A STUDY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY SUCCESS. 241 



A STUDY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY SUCCESS. 



By Professor EDWIN GRANT DEXTER, 



UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 



O OMEONE has said, with more or less philosophical insight, that all 

 *~J questions resolve themselves into three classes : those of the 

 'What,' the 'How,' and the 'Why.' In this paper it is primarily a 

 question of the 'How' that is considered. How have the men and 

 women, who in the opening year of this twentieth century are prom- 

 inently in the public eye, achieved the success in their various voca- 

 tions which has placed them there? What have been the stepping-stones 

 to that success? How can we follow in their footsteps? The biog- 

 raphies of great men h&ve done much to answer this question, still they 

 leave much unsaid. The tow-path and the flat-boat do not furnish 

 nowadays the shortest route to the eminence upon which the ambitious 

 youth has fixed his eye, and he wants more guide posts by the way. 



In an attempt to discover the general route to that goal, I have 

 studied a few facts from the lives of many, rather than many facts from 

 the lives of a few. The basis of the study is 'Who's Who in America' 

 for 1900. This book, of which the edition of 1900 was the first, is for 

 America what the English volume of the same name has been for Eng- 

 land for more than half a century, namely, an address book of living 

 celebrities — if we give this term considerable extension — containing 

 a brief biographical sketch of each. This includes in most cases date 

 of birth, particulars as to schooling, present profession and address, 

 together with any unusual accomplishment or public service. The 

 edition of 1900 contains 8,602 names and in my study of them the first 

 three biographical facts mentioned were considered. I shall say noth- 

 ing in defense of the criterion of success which I am here taking: that 

 is, mention in 'Who's Who.' On what constitutes real success in life 

 probably no two of us could agree. It would, however, be acceded by 

 all who are familiar with the book, that although it fails to mention 

 many who are as worthy a place in its pages as are some who appear 

 there, it is nevertheless true that each whom it has mentioned has at- 

 tained a degree of eminence which warrants the assertion that, at least 

 before the public, success has crowned his efforts to a degree not 

 achieved by the ordinary run of mankind. 



"Whatever success may mean, it would be safe to say that it depends 

 upon two things: nature and nurture. On the nature side of the 



VOL. lxi. — 16. 



